Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan has questioned the selectors over his handling ahead of the Test series against New Zealand. Khan said he recently heard that the selectors are looking at him for Indian conditions, but said he has also performed consistently on India A tours in foreign conditions.
The Mumbai batter last played for India in the home Test series against New Zealand in 2024. He was part of India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia but didn’t get his chance in any of the Test matches.
Khan is once again doing what he does best, scoring runs for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, and he is hoping to get back into the Indian team.
“The selectors didn’t say it to me directly, but when I went to the Indian team recently, I heard that they are looking at me more for Indian conditions. But still, I have a question: when I went to [South] Africa, I scored runs [for India A]. When I went to England, I scored. So sometimes, when you make a comeback and you get a rank turner in India, suddenly you can’t perform very well on a difficult wicket after scoring in domestic cricket,” said Sarfaraz (via ESPN Cricinfo).
“Or if you do, then 30-40-50 runs are enough on it. But it is not that I have not scored runs outside [India]. I have scored outside too. So it’s okay. Ye unka nazariya hai (This is the selectors’ perspective). My job is to play cricket. And I will play.”
Khan also opened up about missing the India A tour of New Zealand.
“Whenever a team comes out, I have expectations. But it’s okay. It’s in their (selectors’) hands whether to select me or not. My job is to play cricket,” said Sarfaraz (via the aforementioned source).
Khan has scored 371 runs in six Test matches at an average of 37.1.
